Released in 1985, "The Midnight Hour" may have been a television movie made for ABC it's still charming, fun & frankly crazy enough to entertain audiences of all ages. For an 80's "High School Horror" this is far too tame to really compete with it's more comparable contemporaries. But since it was made for television it's easier to overlook that, sit back & just settle with what the film has to offer. And what it has to offer is more than you'd expect from the average television movie!
"The Midnight Hour" would make a terrific double bill with another "family friendly" 80's Horror film, "The Monster Squad" (1988). Both films feature a close knit circle of youths battling creatures of the night & both work as much as homage to Horror cinema of old as they do "totally 80's" fright flicks!
Where they really differ in terms of content is in the types of "creatures" our young protagonists encounter. "The Monster Squad" took a more post-modernist approach & paid tribute to the movie monsters of vintage Universal Horror (such as Count Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Wolfman & The Mummy).
"The Midnight Hour" on the other hand has is filmed in the spirit of 50's & 60's drive-in theatre (though still wrapped in "totally 80's" trimmings), while the monsters themselves are drawn as much from mythology as they are the movies themselves. We get witches, werewolves, vampires, zombies & even demonic dwarves. And whereas "The Monster Squad" was very much a straightforward "kids vs monsters" spin on "The Goonies" (1985), "The Midnight Hour" has more in common with "Return Of The Living Dead" (1985) in that any number of characters can be "turned" into whatever creature they come into fatal contact with.
The film is filled with references to the Horror films which preceded it (particularly those of the early 80's). These include "The Evil Dead" (1981) & "A Nightmare On Elm St" (1984), but the most noteworthy aspect of the entire production is arguably the appearence of, well, "the grave dancers" from John Landis' 1982 music video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The makeup work for the various zombies & ghouls is clearly influenced by Rick Baker's incredible work on those from said music video. And if "The Midnight Hour" deserves an award for anything it's absolutely for those truly awesome makeup jobs! Even for a television movie the makeup could match a decent budget studio production from the period. And the same could be said of the surprisingly diverse soundtrack. Radio hits of the 50's & 60's somehow sit beside more contemporary 80's New Wave selections. But the most surprising song inclusion of all is undoubtably The Smiths' 1985 classic, "How Soon Is Now" (which plays over what is arguably the standout scene of the entire film).
"The Midnight Hour's" young cast is mostly comprised of future television stars. Levar Burton ("Star Trek:The Next Generation") & Peter Deluise ("21 Jump Street") are the two most will notice, though there is also an early appearence from Michelle Phieffer's sister, Dedee (one year before 1986's "Vamp"), as well as a small scene stealing role for Kurtwood Smith as a cop (two years before he's portray one of cinema's most memorable criminals in 1987's "Robocop").
The cast all work well together even if much of their material they're working with could be considered cliched & their characters stereotypical. It's a testement to the game cast & the talent behind the camera that "The Midnight Hour" rises above what is admitedly a very average screenplay.
Brad Fiedel's score (his first since 1984's "The Terminator") is well-suited to the tone of the film, while the obligatory '80's dance sequence" is as wonderfully awful as the song which plays over it ("Get Dead" by actress/singer Shari-Lynn Belafonte). The humour does work, but there isn't a joke here you'd not have heard before. This doesn't make the film any less fun however! It's no classic by any means, but for a 1985 "Halloween special" from ABC? It's better than it should be!
S. S. S.
"The Midnight Hour" would make a terrific double bill with another "family friendly" 80's Horror film, "The Monster Squad" (1988). Both films feature a close knit circle of youths battling creatures of the night & both work as much as homage to Horror cinema of old as they do "totally 80's" fright flicks!
Where they really differ in terms of content is in the types of "creatures" our young protagonists encounter. "The Monster Squad" took a more post-modernist approach & paid tribute to the movie monsters of vintage Universal Horror (such as Count Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Wolfman & The Mummy).
"The Midnight Hour" on the other hand has is filmed in the spirit of 50's & 60's drive-in theatre (though still wrapped in "totally 80's" trimmings), while the monsters themselves are drawn as much from mythology as they are the movies themselves. We get witches, werewolves, vampires, zombies & even demonic dwarves. And whereas "The Monster Squad" was very much a straightforward "kids vs monsters" spin on "The Goonies" (1985), "The Midnight Hour" has more in common with "Return Of The Living Dead" (1985) in that any number of characters can be "turned" into whatever creature they come into fatal contact with.
The film is filled with references to the Horror films which preceded it (particularly those of the early 80's). These include "The Evil Dead" (1981) & "A Nightmare On Elm St" (1984), but the most noteworthy aspect of the entire production is arguably the appearence of, well, "the grave dancers" from John Landis' 1982 music video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The makeup work for the various zombies & ghouls is clearly influenced by Rick Baker's incredible work on those from said music video. And if "The Midnight Hour" deserves an award for anything it's absolutely for those truly awesome makeup jobs! Even for a television movie the makeup could match a decent budget studio production from the period. And the same could be said of the surprisingly diverse soundtrack. Radio hits of the 50's & 60's somehow sit beside more contemporary 80's New Wave selections. But the most surprising song inclusion of all is undoubtably The Smiths' 1985 classic, "How Soon Is Now" (which plays over what is arguably the standout scene of the entire film).
"The Midnight Hour's" young cast is mostly comprised of future television stars. Levar Burton ("Star Trek:The Next Generation") & Peter Deluise ("21 Jump Street") are the two most will notice, though there is also an early appearence from Michelle Phieffer's sister, Dedee (one year before 1986's "Vamp"), as well as a small scene stealing role for Kurtwood Smith as a cop (two years before he's portray one of cinema's most memorable criminals in 1987's "Robocop").
The cast all work well together even if much of their material they're working with could be considered cliched & their characters stereotypical. It's a testement to the game cast & the talent behind the camera that "The Midnight Hour" rises above what is admitedly a very average screenplay.
Brad Fiedel's score (his first since 1984's "The Terminator") is well-suited to the tone of the film, while the obligatory '80's dance sequence" is as wonderfully awful as the song which plays over it ("Get Dead" by actress/singer Shari-Lynn Belafonte). The humour does work, but there isn't a joke here you'd not have heard before. This doesn't make the film any less fun however! It's no classic by any means, but for a 1985 "Halloween special" from ABC? It's better than it should be!
S. S. S.
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